Mop holder device



G. H. MANNING MOP HOLDER DEVICE Filed Oct.

Aug. 27, 1968 FIG.

INVENTOR. GEORGE H. MANNING ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,398,420 MOPHOLDER DEVICE George H. Manning, 1512 Pine, Grand Island, Nebr. 68801Filed Oct. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 584,582 Claims. (Cl. -150) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A mop holder for a multi-filament mop element having a fixedjaw and a pivotal jaw adjustably mounted with respect to the fixed jawto accommodate various thicknesses of mop elements. A lever actuatedg-shaped catch engages the free end of the pivotal jaw to maintain it inmopping position.

Specification Mops comprising a multitude of flexible, liquid-absorbentfilaments are commonly employed for swabbing floors and other soiledsurfaces with liquid cleaning agents, i.e. soap solutions and the like.Commercially available multifilament mops commonly comprise two banks orarrays of filaments, said two banks being on respective sides of acentral web portion of the mop. Holders for multifilament mopsinvariably comprise a forward base that is transversely disposed withrespect to an elongate handle. Because the mop itself must necessarilybe attached to the forward base in a fixed relationship therealong, manyprior art workers have directed their efiorts to a holder which includesa Wholly-enclosed transversely-disposed slot positioned immediatelyrearwardly of the forward base, the width of the slot being about equalto that of the mop central portion. With the wholly-enclosed slot typemop holder the mop central web is positioned within the slot during use,and accordingly, it is necessary to insert one bank of filaments throughthe slot when attaching the mop to the holder, and conversely towithdraw a bank of filaments through the same slot in a direction normalto forward base when disengaging a worn or fouled mop. While theenclosed slot type mops are usually of simple and unitary economicalconstruction, operational difficulty is invariably encountered withinter-bank filament tangling of the mop, it being impossible to withdrawthe mop from a wholly-enclosed slot when filaments are tangled aroundthe forward base. Accordingly, it is necessary for the operator toengage in the laborous and messy task of breaking or unknotting theinter-bank filament tangles before the mop can be disengaged from theholder.

Because of the diificulty encountered in removably disengaging tangledmops from enclosed-slot type mops, the art has developed severalalternate types of mop holders. Invariably, however, these alternateembodiments have been deficient in one or more of the followingrespects: complex and expensive construction is involved; a multitude ofseparable and easily-lost parts are employed; cumbersome operation isinvolved for mop installation and disengagement; and it is difiicult orimpossible to adjust the holder for the various thicknesses of mopslikely to be encountered.

It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to provide amop holder device that overcomes the several disadvantages of the priorart.

It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a mop holderdevice wherein a tangled worn mop may be quickly and easily disengagedtherefrom along the same transverse direction of the forward base ratherthan in a direction normal thereto.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mop holderhaving a simple unitary construction com- 3,398,420 Patented Aug. 27,1968 parable to that for enclosed slot type prior art holders, yet doesnot have the several disadvantages thereof.

It is another object to provide a mop holder device that will adjustablyconform to several mop thicknesses.

It is a further object to provide a mop holder device that is economicalto manufacture and repair utilizing readily available simple parts.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, which willbecome more apparent as the description proceeds, the inventioncomprises the novel form, combination, and arrangement of parts ashereinafter more fully described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing wherein like numbers refer to like parts in theseveral views and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the mop holder of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the mop holder of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 3--3 of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional elevational view taken along line 44 of FIGURE1.

The mop holder 10 of the present invention is attached to the forwardend 9 of an elongate handle 8 as by means of a tight friction fit, or bythe threaded engagement shown, or by any one of the equivalent meansthat are well known in the art. Mop holder 10 comprises a frame memberextending forwardly of handle 8, said frame member including a firstside 11, a second side 12, and an intervening base 13 attached to sides11 and 12. Frame sides 11 and 12 preferably are in the form of opposedforwardly extending bars, herein of rectangular crosssectional shape,said bars 11 and 12 being desirably substantially parallel to each otherand to elongate handle 8. Intervening base member 13, herein shown ofrectangular cross-sectional shape, is attached as by welding to theforward extremities of frame sides 11 and 12. As shown in FIGURE 4,forward surface 14 of intervening base 13 may be serrated or ofsimilarly non-smooth roughened configuration, for example the severalteeth-like serrations each extending in the transverse direction betweensides 11 and 12 so as to provide a gripping surface for themultifilament type mop shown in phantom line in FIG- URE 4.

There is an elongate rod 20 at the forward extremity of mop holder 10,forwardly of intervening base 13, said elongate rod 20 having a captiveend 21 and a free end 22. As can be clearly seen in FIGURE 1, the entireelongate body of rod 20, commencing at its pivot point 23 and extendingto its free end 22, is of a substantially linear configuration, and saidrod 20 terminates as a flange-free end 22. Captive end 21 of elongaterod 20 is pivotably attached to mop holder 10 nearer to first side 11than to second side 12 and forwardly of forward surface 14. The lengthof rod 20 is sufiiciently long that, when rod 20 is in substantialparallelism with intervening base 13, its free end 22 extends outwardlybeyond second side 12. For reasons to be explained later, the captiveend 21 of rod 20 is pivotably attached to a threaded stud 25 thatextends forwardly of bar 11 and base 13. Stud 25 is threadedly engagedwith a threaded internal bore 19 of bar 11, said bore 19 commencing atthe forward end of first side bar 11. The forward extremity of stud 25extends forwardly of bar 11 and is preferably of the clevisconfiguration shown in FIGURE 2, and captive end 21 is pivotablyattached within the clevis as by means of pivot pin 23. Rod 20 has anotched portion 24 nearer to free end 22, herein as a circumferentialnotch 24 that is located between second side bar 12 and rod free end 22when said rod is in substantial parallelism with intervening baseforward surface 14. The surface of elongate rod 20 may be knurled or ofother non-smooth roughened configuration so as to provide a grippingmeans between mop 100 and rod 20.

There are means attached to second side 12 for temporarily graspingelongated rod 20 nearer to its free end 22 so as to removably maintainrod 20 in substantial parallelism with intervening base forward surface14. The grasping means may comprise a latch 30 together with catch 50,said latch 30 being positioned alongside and pivotably attached tosecond side bar 12. For reasons to be explained later, latch 30 may bepivotably attached to a sideward lug 41 of collar 40 as by means ofpivot pin 42. Collar 40 surrounds and threadedly engages a threadedmedial portion 16 of second side bar 12, said threaded medial portion 16being of circular cross-sectional shape. There is an outwardly extendingcar 45 attached to second side bar 12 rearwardly of threaded medialportion 16, and ear 45 may have a transverse perforation 46therethrough.

The rearward extremity 31 of latch 30 extends rearwardly of car 45, andthe lever-like rearward portion of latch 30 includes a slot 32. As canbest be seen in FIGURE 3, the width of slot 32 is at least as wide asear 45, and the elongated length of slot 32 between its upper extremity33 and its lower extremity is at least twice the length of ear 45.

The inwardly bent free ends 55 of -shaped catch 50 pivotably pierce bothopposed sides of latch 30. When latch 30 is positioned alongside secondside bar 12, the pivotably engaged ends 55 are located rearwardly of thepivotal joinder 42 of latch 30 with second side bar 12. The forwardextremity 51 of elongate catch 50 extends forwardly of intervening base13, and the forward extremity 51 surrounds rod 20 at notch 24 to thismaintain rod 20 in substantial parallelism with intervening base 13. Ascan best be seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, the rod 20 when held in parallelismwith intervening base 13 removably maintains a typical multi-filamentmop 100 at the forward end of mop holder between rod and base 13. Asshown schematically in phantom line in FIGURE 3, an appropraitely bentlength of flexible wire 47 inserted through ear perforation 46 willfunction as a means to maintain latch 30 tightly against rod 20.

The multi-filament mop 100 shown in phantom line in FIGURE 4 is of thetypical commercially-available embodiment which comprises a plurality oflayers (herein as three layers), each layer comprising a multitude ofhydrophilic flexible filaments spaced transversely between frame sides11 and 12. Mop 100 comprises a central web portion 105 wherein therespective filaments are integrally joined together by adhesive or by amechanical inter-weaving, and there are two banks 106 and 107 of looselyarranged filaments on either side of intermediate web portion 105. Itis, of course, the two banks 106 and 107 that are used to clean a floor,or whatever surface is to be cleaned, and inter-bank tangling of theseveral filament members is apt to result during use of the mop 100.Although a new mop can be inserted into the mop holder 10 in a directionnormal to intervening base 13, after the mop has been used there is aptto be inter-bank tangling of the filament members and it is thereafterimpossible to remove the mop 100 from the mop holder 10 in a directionnormal to intervening base 13, unless the filaments are laboriouslyuntangled. However, with the present invention a mop 100 havinginter-bank tangling can be readily removed in a direction parallel tointervening base 13 simply by moving latch 30 outwardly from second side12 as shown in phantom line in FIG- URE 1. In so moving latch 30outwardly, the catch portion 50 of the grasping means moves downwardlyuntil its pivotably engaged ends 55 are below the latch pivot point 42.Then, the operator merely pivots catch 50 outwardly, pivots rod 20forwardly, and slides a mop 100 rightwardly to remove even a tangled mopfrom mop holder 10.

4. Although the mop shown has but three layersof filaments, a mop maycontain various numbers of filament layers and filament diameters, andaccordingly, the thickness of central web portion may vary from mop tomop. To compensate for the various thicknesses of mop webs likely to beencountered, captive end 21 of rod 20 at rod pivot 23 is adjustablydisposed with respect to first side 11 as by means of threaded stud 25,and similarly catch 50 is adjustably disposed with respect to secondside 12 as by means of threaded collar 40. Since rod 20 must operativelyextend inwardly from first side 11 and since the grasping means mustoperatively extend outwardly from second side 12, the thread pitches onstud 25 and on threaded portion 16 should be of a relatively small valueand preferably of equal values.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the mop holderdevice will be readily understood and further explanation is believed tobe unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A holder for a filament type mop, said holder comprising a framemember including a first side and a second side and an intervening baseattached transversely between said first and second sides, saidintervening base having a forward surface, an elongate rod positionedforwardly of the frame member intervening base, said elongate rod havinga captive end and a free end, the captive end of said elongate rod beingpivotably attached to said frame member nearer to the first sidethereof, the pivotal connection between the elongate rod and the framemember being located forwardly of and adjustably disposed with respectto the intervening base forward surface, the length of said elongatepivotal rod being sufiicient so that the rod free end extends outwardlybeyond the frame second side when the elongate pivotal rod is insubstantial parallelism with the intervening base forward surface, theentire elongate body of said elongate rod, commencing at its pivotalconnection with the frame member and extending to the rod free end,being of a substantially linear configuration including a flange-freeend, and means for temporarily grasping said elongate rod nearer to itsfree end so as to maintain said elongate rod in substantial parallelismwith the intervening base forward surface, said grasping means beingpositioned outwardly from and being attached to the frame second side.

2. The mop holder device of claim 1 wherein the grasping means includesa latch positioned outwardly from and pivotably attached to the framesecond side and an elongate catch pivotably attached to the latchrearwardly of the pivotal connection between the latch and the framesecond side.

3. The mop holder device of claim 2 wherein the forward surface of theintervening base is of a roughened configuration, wherein thesurface ofthe elongate rod comprises roughened areas to facilitate gripping of afilament type mop between the intervening base and the elongate rod, andwherein the elongate rod has a circumferentially notched portion nearerto the rod free end, said circumferentially notched portion extendingoutwardly beyond the frame second side when the elongate pivotal rod isin substantial parallelism with the forward roughened surface of theintervening base.

4. The mop holder device of claim 1 wherein the frame member comprisesas the first and second sides thereof a pair of opposed side barsincluding a first side bar and a second side bar; wherein the forwardsurface of the intervening base includes a plurality of teeth-likeserrations extending in the transverse direction between the first andsecond side bars; wherein the elongate rod has a circumferentiallygrooved notched portion nearer to the rod free end, saidcircumferentially grooved notched portion extending outwardly beyond thesecond side bar when the elongate pivotal rod is in substantialparallelism with the forward serrated surface of the intervening base;and wherein the grasping means includes a latch positioned outwardlyfrom and pivotably attached to the second side bar and an elongateZS-shaped catch attached to the latch rearwardly of the pivotalconnection between the latch and the second side bar.

5. The mop holder device of claim 4 wherein the first and second sidebars are substantially parallel to each other; wherein the first sidebar is provided with a threaded internal bore commencing at the forwardend of the first side bar, a stud member threadedly engaged along thefirst side bar internal threaded bore, the forward end of the studmember being of a clevis configuration; wherein the elongate bar ispivotably connected to the stud member within the clevis portionthereof; wherein a collar member surrounds and is threadedly engagedwith a threaded portion of the second side bar; wherein a perforate earis attached to the outward side of the second side bar rearwardly of thecollar member; and wherein the latch portion of the grasping means ispivotably attached to the collar member, said pivotable latch includinga rearwardly extending lever having an elongate slotted portion that isat least twice the length of said ear whereby the car will protrudethrough the lever slotted portion when the latch is pivoted toward thesecond side bar, said perforate car being adapted to receive a retainingwire to maintain the lever in latched position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 512,543 1/1894 Froberg 15-150899,437 9/1908 Rivers 1515O 1,056,963 3/1913 Wing 1515O 1,376,175 4/1921Sundermann 15-150 1,438,644 12/1922 Hill 15150 1,492,910 5/ 1924Wingrave 15150 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,612 10/ 1949 Finland.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner.

